Temperature dependent cell respiration and energy expenditure for protein synthesis were determined in primary hepatocytes of different fish species of the South Atlantic: the circumpolar-distributed Antarctic eelpout Pachycara brachycephalum (sampling location: 62°19′S; 58°33′W) and, of two notothenioids the sub-Antarctic Lepidonotothen squamifrons (sampling location: 53°24′S; 42°40′W) and the high-Antarctic icefish Chionodraco hamatus (sampling location: 70°19′S; 10°22′W). We used intermittent-flow respirometry and closed system respirometry to analyse cellular response to acute warming.